To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

PP. Chapter 43: South Rampart Street

Page 1

[CHAPTER 43]
[Page 1]
South Rampart Street.
“In New Orleans”, wrote the Negro post, Langston Hughes, in his biography, The Deep Sea, “I wanted to live in Rampart Street, the leading Negro Street. So he found a second-story flat where transient and permanent rooms were rented out. But on Saturday nights, when the landlord held fish-frys and sold homebrew, transient couples seeking rooms became so numerous that his own permanent one had to be commandeered until the rush was over.
Hughes remained in New Orleans for a time, listening to “marvelous blues records” featuring such singers as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson and Ma Rainey, on his land lady’s old victrola. From his South Rampart Street address he made visits to neighboring voodoo shops and drug stores selling High John the Conqueror Root, Good Business Water, Follow Me Seeds, and Wishing Powder. To the occult powers of the last-named he firmly attributed the strange force which sent him Havana-ward the next day on the S. S. Nardo.
South Rampart Street, between Canal and Clio Streets is what might be called a “Negro Paradise.” Running the entire length of this part of the street one may find scores of establishments catering to Negroes. The majority of these are tailor shops, pawn shops, department stores, bakeries, rummage shops, shoe stores and shoe repair places, hat and cap stores, fish and meat markets, fruits stands, grocery stores, hardware stores, and drug stores. There is also the Ace Theater, Jewish-owned, where

The unpublished manuscript "The Negro in Louisiana" is a work begun by the Dillard (University) Project in 1942, an arm of the WPA's Federal Writer's Project. After the dissolution of the unit, Marcus Christian maintained and edited the document in hopes of eventual publication. It is reproduced here as an annotated transcript, with original typos, chapters, and paginations preserved.

Creator

Dillard Project, Federal Writer's Project

Contributors

Christian, Marcus

Notes

MSS 11

Date

Between 1942 and 1976

Type

Text;

Format

pdf;

Identifier

See 'reference url' on the menu bar for the identifier of this item.

Source

Louisiana and Special Collections Department, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans

[CHAPTER 43]
[Page 1]
South Rampart Street.
“In New Orleans”, wrote the Negro post, Langston Hughes, in his biography, The Deep Sea, “I wanted to live in Rampart Street, the leading Negro Street. So he found a second-story flat where transient and permanent rooms were rented out. But on Saturday nights, when the landlord held fish-frys and sold homebrew, transient couples seeking rooms became so numerous that his own permanent one had to be commandeered until the rush was over.
Hughes remained in New Orleans for a time, listening to “marvelous blues records” featuring such singers as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson and Ma Rainey, on his land lady’s old victrola. From his South Rampart Street address he made visits to neighboring voodoo shops and drug stores selling High John the Conqueror Root, Good Business Water, Follow Me Seeds, and Wishing Powder. To the occult powers of the last-named he firmly attributed the strange force which sent him Havana-ward the next day on the S. S. Nardo.
South Rampart Street, between Canal and Clio Streets is what might be called a “Negro Paradise.” Running the entire length of this part of the street one may find scores of establishments catering to Negroes. The majority of these are tailor shops, pawn shops, department stores, bakeries, rummage shops, shoe stores and shoe repair places, hat and cap stores, fish and meat markets, fruits stands, grocery stores, hardware stores, and drug stores. There is also the Ace Theater, Jewish-owned, where